ANTON, Texas (KCBD) – A new food pantry has opened at Anton ISD to provide students and families with access to food, through a partnership with the South Plains Food Bank.<\/p>\n
Joe Contreras, senior director of programs at the South Plains Food Bank, said the pantry is the second school pantry the food bank has helped open.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor somebody that grew up in a rural community, I\u2019m extremely excited. This is the second school that we\u2019ve been able to partner with to open a school pantry,\u201d Contreras said.<\/p>\n
Contreras said 25.1% of students are food insecure in Hockley County.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd just the need that, hearing from the school staff, it\u2019s just exciting because kids shouldn\u2019t be hungry. It\u2019s hard for them to learn already for some of them, but no one should be hungry,\u201d Contreras said.<\/p>\n
Out of 19 counties the food bank serves, more than 32,000 students go hungry.<\/p>\n
School counselor noticed the need<\/p>\n
Alicia Ball, school counselor for Anton, noticed the issue among students and how teachers were buying food for students from their own pockets.<\/p>\n
\u201cFood insecurity doesn\u2019t just affect academics at school. It affects the whole child…behaviors that we see…everything that a child does. It comes down to hunger,\u201d Ball said.<\/p>\n
Ball said the idea for a food pantry started with a little bit of hope and kept growing. She asked for a few items and was met with much more, thanks to the South Plains Food Bank. The pantry now has drinks, cereals and meals that parents can take home for the weekends.<\/p>\n
\u201cI expected some basic necessities, and they showed up with two pallets of food. It took me, some teachers, and some students to help get all of this into the school. And it was just absolutely overwhelming,\u201d Ball said.<\/p>\n
Anton is now the second school pantry to open with the food bank, after Seagraves opened one a few weeks earlier.<\/p>\n
How to help<\/p>\n